Registered

Premium Member

I'm going to guess you have either the wrong gasket for the revision of water pump you're installing. Or you didn't actually remove all of the old gasket from the block. It's been reported more than once that the metal part of the gasket can appear to be part of the block causing this issue.

Are there certain areas of the gasket leaking that would result in coolant being channeled to the weep hole (next to the thermostat housing)? I suspect that certain points of failure of the gasket result in coolant being dumped into the oil pan, with other points of failure channeling to the weep hole.

I do wonder if there is not a gasket issue - there are some real potential land mines with that gasket for the very reasons that Ron and Dan mentioned.

Registered

I replaced the water pump on my 2005 intrepid 2.7l on August 2014,I noticed on the oil pan cap there was
yellow foam indication that there was leaking cool inside the cranckcase.After I replaced the water pump,
I did not have any problems.
The leak you talking is from somewhere else.Before I replaced the water pump I had leaking from the
short pipe that goes from the thermostat nipple of heater and the metal pipe.I replaced twice.
I hope this helps.Do you still have heat? if so the water pump is okey.

Registered

I gotta say, had it not been for this forum (and this thread especially), the water pump change im in the middle of would have taken me twice as long...

I'm at a bit of a standdown though..

I'm in the re-assembly stage where I need to install the chain tensioner.....I ended up using one of these as a backup incase the tensioner fails ( http://fix27engine.com/ )

BUT.....if I "reset" the tensioner...there isn't a way to release it...how detrimental is it if I just reinstall it?

Also.....when I went to inspect it and get ready for re-installation...I noticed that the o-ring was missing...I then realized after looking at pictures online, that the small steel wire ring around it has broken in half...this answered my question to myself as to what that thing was in two pieces I found sitting ontop of the A/C compressor as I was taking everything apart..

Not having used the stop block, I can only armchair quarterback on how to trip it while using the stop block. I visualize two choices: Either 1) figure out how to get something stuck down to the tip of the tensioner to pry it to release it, or 2) if it is possible, can you temporarily leave the stop block out, or at least unbolted and slid out of position with the tensioner, tensioner arm, and chain installed, trip the tensioner, and *then* bolt the stop block in place?

A 3rd possibility (reading thru the installation instructions on the stop block web page) is to have everything except the tensioner installed (the stop block keeping enough slack out of the chain so timing doesn't jump), trip the tensioner *before* installing, then install the tensioner.

You would have to experiment and consider which of those 3 options would work and be easiest. (It appears that you need to either get the stop block part for new (vs. used) chain or grind/file the block back to the second mark if using a new chain. Is that to possibly allow a little more movement of the tensioner arm to trip the tensioner? In any case, I have to believe it's do-able using one of the 3 methods possibly in combination with having the stop block ground back to the second mark, otherwise the sellers of the stop block on ebay would have bad feedback ratings, and we'd also have seen postings here with complaints.)

Also.....when I went to inspect it and get ready for re-installation...I noticed that the o-ring was missing...I then realized after looking at pictures online, that the small steel wire ring around it has broken in half...this answered my question to myself as to what that thing was in two pieces I found sitting ontop of the A/C compressor as I was taking everything apart..

Would the o-ring and metal ring come with a new tensioner? If so, maybe it would be best to buy a new one - that would take care of those parts *and* referesh that very critical part (the tensioner) too. If you do get a new tensioner, get an OEM one only. There have been enough posts about getting bad aftermarket 2.7 tensioners that I would only trust the OEM for that part. Yours being an '04, you can only use the later design tensioner (listed for the later years).

Registered

Would the o-ring and metal ring come with a new tensioner? If so, maybe it would be best to buy a new one - that would take care of those parts *and* referesh that very critical part (the tensioner) too. If you do get a new tensioner, get an OEM one only. There have been enough posts about getting bad aftermarket 2.7 tensioners that I would only trust the OEM for that part. Yours being an '04, you can only use the later design tensioner (listed for the later years).

Registered

I just finished installing the chain to all of the marks on the gears and pulling it through five or six revolutions. The tensioner is pushing and the gold links line up. This after changing the water pump. I won't know how successful I am until I get it all together and start it. But I wanted to point out a couple of things I learned while doing it so far and how useful the YouTube videos are. First of all, Daytrippers is the best of them all but I advise looking at all you can to get a little from each one. Either I wasn't paying attention or nobody mentioned the following. When you get the timing cover off (half of the job) make sure you crank the engine over with a long handle socket enough to line up all of the gold plated chains to the marks of the cam gears and crank gear as in the picture provided by Daytripper. The problem is you may have to crank it four, five or even six revolutions before the links sequence with the marks. It's not like an old V8 or engine with a single cam. The chain wraps around the two cam gears, the water pump gear and the crank gear so it can take a few turns before the gold links on the chain catch up to all of the marks. I thought I had it lined up at first with the links positioned like the picture but there was nothing on the cam gears to indicate it was correct. I thought I got one of those cars off the line during a parts change or something. But after getting one of those feelings you get when your not sure, I went back to the videos. Nobody really said anything about it so I went out and turned it over a couple of revolutions and presto! everything looked exactly like the picture and the stamped marks magically appeared. Or, at least, it seemed that way.
Just thought I'd mention it. BTW, I haven't done anything like this in many, many years. But the car was free and had nothing but the price of the pump to lose. It looked scary at first because I'm not used to the plastic intakes and all of the sensor connections and hoses. But to Chrysler credit, it obviously is built with maintenance in mind to some extent. Nothing too knuckle scrapping or blind.

Registered

Hi,
Today I finished my 2nd water pump job. Don't worry, first one was 140000km ago. I buttoned all up and made a test start for a minute. All good at idle, lil rough but ok. Shut it down and cleaned my garage, dealed with waste fluids.

Got back to a car ready for a test drive. Revved it between idle and 2500 rpm. Third time down to idle and A LOUD KNOCK. Revved it and knock went a away, but back again at idle. It goes away when revving, but terrible at idle. Didn't want to start it again. Got a beer (3) and went to sauna.

Please let it be the TC tensioner, please. Isn't it a TC tensioner, isn't it? I reused the old one, obviously not enough oil in it. Whadda you think, folks? Thanks.

Premium Member

Did you install the tensioner with it latched to the short position, and then properly release (unlatch) it before starting the engine? Hopefully what you were hearing is the chain tensioner arm clacking back and forth at idle speed due to latched tensioner. I wouldn't start it until you figure that out. With a latched tensioner, the chain would be loose and it could jump timing and damage the valves.

Registered

Yes, that's how I did it. According to FSM. Have to get it back to garage, but I gotta drive it there... Pheww.

Edit:I'm also missing the metal thingy (circlip) around the tensioner, reading up a bit. That could easily be it. Letting the tensioner in too far, and then banging it back against the two-bolt-backplate.

Registered

I got the mojo working, but you can call me an idiot. I was thinking "propably no need for a circlip in tensioner". How stupid was I. I made a circlip out of keyring steel. Reset the tensioner, put the valve cover, intake manifold and CAI back on. Voilà, no odd noises anymore.

Registered

In the FSM it says, "water pump can be changed w/o AC drain" which means the rad stays in place. However, it doesn't say how to remove the balancer 14mm bolt, which is tight and glued. In my cases, I had AC empty on both occasions, when attacking water pump, so I had no problem taking the rad off and attacking the Bolt with air gun.
There is a little notch at the bottom of timing chain cover and 3/8" "holes" in cams and sprockets. Are they of any help?

I hit **** with sticks!

In the FSM it says, "water pump can be changed w/o AC drain" which means the rad stays in place. However, it doesn't say how to remove the balancer 14mm bolt, which is tight and glued. In my cases, I had AC empty on both occasions, when attacking water pump, so I had no problem taking the rad off and attacking the Bolt with air gun.
There is a little notch at the bottom of timing chain cover and 3/8" "holes" in cams and sprockets. Are they of any help?

Premium Member

In the FSM it says, "water pump can be changed w/o AC drain" which means the rad stays in place. However, it doesn't say how to remove the balancer 14mm bolt, which is tight and glued. In my cases, I had AC empty on both occasions, when attacking water pump, so I had no problem taking the rad off and attacking the Bolt with air gun.
There is a little notch at the bottom of timing chain cover and 3/8" "holes" in cams and sprockets. Are they of any help?

In the highlighted, I though you were implying that you felt you might as well take the radiator out since the a.c. was already discharged, i.e., if you hadn't already had the a.c. discharged, you wouldn't have removed the radiator.

I realize that that didn't have anything to do with your question, and that Dan answered your question. :thumbsup:

I know it's a common issue where if you fill up the gas too much it can stall it often, and this is how it used to be for a while. It would only stall or shut off almost directly after filling it up. Right now, the gas is at probably 80% full, and it's shutting off when we stop or when we go...

I am currently rebuilding the 3.5 out of my Wife's 02 Intrepid. The engine has been pulled and torn down. The block and crankshaft are in really good condition for a 300K car, the bearings are however a little worn. All measurements for the crankshaft and block are well within specs amazingly...

Can anyone tell me if some movement is allowed on the strut mount. I recently did different struts with OEM mounts, but not sure if ok this much movement there’s no noises as yet. I’ll will post a small clip as soon I’ll figure out how.